Cleaning device



Nov. 10, 1942. J. D. BATES 2,301,505

CLEANING DEVICE Filed Aug. 20, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheef l F1- 57.5 3mmJose/0b azes NOV. JI Q BATES CLEANING DEVICE Filed Aug.- 20. 1940 2sheets-sheet 2 Josep/7 Baze @M Patented Nov. l0, 1942 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE CLEANING DEVICE Joseph D. Bates, West Springfield, Mass.

Application August 20, 1940, Serial No. 353,429

9 Claims.

This application is a continuation in part of my co-pending applicationSerial No. 185,051, now Letters Patent No. 2,226,654, and the inventionhere described and claimed, like that of the original application,relates generally to devices for cleaning and dusting.

.It is the object of this invention to provide an improved cleaningdevice which is preferably to be used in the dry state and which isconstituted by a pad of superposed cleaning sheets which may be usedsuccessively, together with a supporting structure on which these sheetsare mounted. By this invention a new and simplied supporting structureand an improved means for attaching the cleaning sheets thereto areprovided and, in addition, a new and simplified means is provided forattaching a handle to the cleaning device.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will be madeapparent by the following description and the annexed drawings, it befing clearly understood, however, that such description and drawings areonly illustrative of the invention which is not limited thereby orotherwise than by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar reference numerals refer tolike parts:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a preferred form of the invention Fig. 2 is asectional View taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modified method ofattaching the cleaning sheets to the supporting member;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the assembly of cleaning sheets and supportingmember which are employedin the cleaning device of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment of theinvention;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view taken on the line 1--1 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. l but showing a modified form ofcleaning pad;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing a prepared cleaning pademploying an improved form of cleaning sheet;

Figs. 10 and 1l are plan views of two modified forms of my invention,and

` Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken on the line |2-l2 of Fig. 10.

The cleaning device which I have provided by the present inventioncomprises, generally, a backing Aand supporting member consisting ofture.

are held closely together in substantially faceto-face relation andabout which is folded a prepared cleaning pad formed of a plurality ofsuperposed sheets of cleaning material, means being provided to attachthe sheets yof this pad to the backing and supporting member.

In the cleaning device disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings thebacking and supporting member is formed by folding a fiat sheet ofrelatively flexible material such as cardboard or 1 pasteboard toprovide two substantially co-extensive side members, about which arefolded a plurality of superposed sheets of cleaning mate-- rial such assoft fibre paper. About this backing member there is folded a pad 2consisting of a large number of superposed sheets of cleaning paper orother suitable cleaning material. The sheets forming this pad arepreferably rectangular and slightly larger in dimensions than theunfolded sheet of material which forms the supporting device. The foldof these sheets is preferably made to coincide with the fold of thesupporting device and the free edges of the sheets therefore extendslightly beyond the free edges of the two sides of the backing member,all as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. These sheets are preferablyattached to the supporting structure by wire staples 3 which arepositioned near and spaced along the free edges of the supporting deviceand the cleaning sheets. Obviously, other devices than staples may beused to attach the cleaning sheets together and to the supporting head.

A handle member or a handle-receiving ferruie 4, which is preferablyformed of paperboard or cardboard, is attached to the supporting devicein a particularly advantageous manner. The ferrule 4, which is madecylindrical in form in order to receive the end of a handle, is crushedor flattened at one end and such end is positioned between the two freeedges of the folded 'supp'ort, midway of the length thereof, and isrigidly held in position by one of the staples 3 which attach the papersheets to the supporting struc- The upper or outer end of the ferrule isleft in cylindrical form in order that the end of a handle may beinserted therein. The attachment of a crushed end of the ferrule betweenthe sides of the backing member not only securely attaches the ferruleto the backing member but provides a tight recess within which the endof the handle is received.

The folded assembly described may be initially creased along atransverse line, such as the line two llat members of similar size andshape which 55 .A-A of Fig. 1, in order to permit the cleaning part ofthe device to be more easily bent,` with respect to the handle, duringcleaning. This same result may be achieved, however, by forming thebacking member of more flexible material. As shown in Figs. l and 2, aspring or other resilient device 6 may be positioned within the backingmember, bearing on the interior of the bottom fold and on the lower endof the ferrule or on the staples 3, thus maintaining the mop device inextended condition.

In Fig. 3 of the drawings there is illustrated a further embodiment ofthe invention, in which a triangular supporting or head member IB isformed by folding a preferably square piece of Y cardboard, pasteboardor other suitable material about one of its diagonals to form twosubstan-4 tially co-extensive triangular sides which are joined alongthe diagonal by a fold. Superposed rectangular sheets of paper or othercleaning material Il, which are of slightly larger dimensions than thehead I0, are also folded to triangular shape about one 4of theirdiagonals and are placed about the head member in such a way that thefold of the backing member abuts that of the cleaning sheets. Thecleaning sheets are attached to the head by staples I2 and a cylindricalferrule I3 is attached to the head by flattening one end thereof andinserting this end between the two side walls of the head, preferably atthe apex of the triangular cleaning device, as illustrated in Fig. 3.The ferrule may be held in place by stapling, as illustrated. Thistriangular cleaning device has certain advantages for cleaning cornersand recesses which are under some obstruction.

The embodiment of the invention disclosed in Fig. 4 of the drawings issimilar in all respects to those of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 except that thefree ends of the cleaning sheets are folded around the free edges of thesides of the supporting device and are extended between the two sides asufficient distance to be engaged and held by the staples which attachthe cleaning sheets and the ferrule to the backing member. The ends ofthe cleaning sheets are thus held by the staples and additionally by theclamping action of the sides of the supporting device, thus providing amore secure assembly.

A still further form of my invention is disclosed in Figs. 5 and 6 ofthe drawings. 5 there is illustrated a prepared cleaning assemblycomprising superposed sheets of cleaning material 2B over which is laida single sheet 2l of relatively heavy backing material, such ascardboard, rubber or, the like which. may have y.,

the same shape asthe cleaning sheets or' may be of octagonal or othersuitable shape as shown in Fig. 5 for a purpose which will be explained.The backing sheet 2| is preferably attached to the pad of cleaningsheets as by the staples 22, but, obviously, may be attached by adhesivemeans applied over the face of the backing member or along an adjacentedge of the backing member and the cleaning sheets. This cleaningassembly may be folded about a median line such as A-A with the backingsheet within the cleaning sheets and the adjacent free edges may beengaged within a clamp Z3 which is attached, or adapted to be attachedto a handle 24, all as illustrated in Fig. 6.

In the event that the backing sheet is formed of octagonal or othernon-rectangular shape the corners of the folded assembly may be turnedinwardly as illustrated at 25 in Fig. 6, thereby prolriding amore secureassembly.

In Fig.

I have found that it is very desirable to prevent the soiling of theedges of any sheet of cleaning material until the sheet is purposelyexposed for use. In order to prevent such undesired and unintentionalsoiling I provide a cleaning pad formed of a number of superposed sheetsof cleaning material, each sheet having its opposite edges turnedinwardly, as at 30 in Fig. 8 of 'the drawings. In use, when a sheet isexposed, these inturned flaps or edges are turned outwardly and extendbeyond and shield the edges of the underlying cleaning sheets. Themanner of use of such edge portions is illustrated in Fig. 8 in which,at 3i, one of the edge flaps has been turned outwardly to shield theedges 32 of the underlying sheets. While the cleaning pads of the otherfigures are not illustrated as having these inturned edges it is to beunderstood that they may be so formed, and it is to be furtherunderstood that one of the features of my invention is the provision ofa cleaning pad formed of superposed sheets of cleaning material, each ofwhich is provided with the described inturned or folded opposite edgeportions. Such a prepared cleaning pad is illustrated in Fig. 9 of thedrawings, in which there is illustrated the pad i0 of superposed sheetsof cleaning material, each of such sheets having its opposite edgesturned inwardly as at 4I. A sheet of cardboard or other suitable,relatively flexible material l2 is superposed on the pile and isattached thereto by staples d3 or by adhesive or other desirable means.

In a further embodiment of my invention, I provide a backing memberformed by bending a length of relatively flexible wire 5D intoarectangular shape, as shown in Fig. l0 or into a triangular shape, asshown in Fig. l1. In both cases the wire is bent into a double rectangleor ltriangle in order that the edges of the cleaning sheets may bepositioned between adjacent portions of the wire frame which grasp theseedges and hold the sheets of the frame, as illustrated. The free ends ofthe wire which forms the frame are attached in any suitable manner to ahandle or handle-receiving ferrule 5i.

The use and operation of cleaning devices according to the inventionwill be obvious. As the outer sheet becomes soiled by use it may beremoved by merely tearing it from the pad, thereby exposing the nextsheet for use.

While I have described and illustrated a number of embodiments of myinvention, other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in theart, as well as modifications of the disclosed forms. These additionalembodiments may be produced and modification of the disclosed forms maybe made, all without departing in any way from the scope of theinvention, for the limits of which reference must be had to the appendedclaims.

I claim: Y

l. A cleaning device comprising a backing member formed of flexiblematerial, a handle member attached to said backing member, and a.

cleaning member comprising a plurality of superposed separable sheets ofcleaning material arranged exteriorly of. and covering both sides ofsaid backing sheet and removably attached thereto, the edges of each ofsaid sheets adjacent the opposite lateral edges of the cleaning devicebeing folded inwardly to provide a flap which may be turned outwardlywhen the sheet is used, thereby shielding the edges of the underlyingsheets.

.2. AA cleaning device comprising a backing and supporting member formedof a sheet of relatively stiff material such as cardboard which isfolded to provide two substantially co-extensive side members joined bya fold and which is creased along a line which is between the fold andthe edges of the backing member and which is substantially parallel tothe fold, a cleaning member formed of a pad of superposed sheets ofcleaning material which are folded about the fold of the backing memberand which substantially cover each -of the sides thereof, and aplurality of staples positioned adjacent the edges of the backing andcleaning members and attaching the cleaning member to the backing memberin such a manner that successive sheets of the cleaning member may beremoved one at a time.

3. A cleaning device comprising a backing and supporting member formedof a sheet of relatively stiff material such as cardboard which isfolded to provide two substantially co-extensive side members joined bya fold, a cleaning member formed of a pad of superposed sheets ofcleaning material which are folded about the fold of the backing memberand which substantially cover each of the sides thereof, a cylindri-calhandleA member having a attened end positioned between ythe free edgesof the sides of the backing member, and means attaching the cleaningmember to the backing member and attaching the fiattened end of thehandle member between the sides of the backing member.

4. A cl-eaning device comprising a backing and supporting member formedof a sheet of relatively stiff material such as cardboard which isfolded to provide two substantially co-extensive rectangular sidemembers joined by a fold, a cleaning member formed of a pad ofsuperposed sheets of cleaning material which are folded about the foldof the backing member to form two rectangular pads each of whichsubstantially covers one of the sides of the backing member, acylindrical handle member having a flattened end positioned between thefree edges of the sides of the backing member adjacent the midpointthereof, and means attaching the cleaning member to the backing memberand attaching the flattened end of the handle member between the sidesof the backing member.

5. A cleaning device comprising a backing and supporting member formedof a sheet of relatively stiff material such as cardboard which isfolded to provide two substantially co-extensive triangular side membersjoined by a fold, a cleaning member formed of a pad of superposed sheetsof cleaning material which are folded about the fold of the backingmember to form two triangular pads each of which substantially coversone of the sides of the backing member, a cylindrical handle memberhaving a flattened end positioned between the free edges of the sides ofthe backing member at the apices thereof, and means attaching thecleaning member to the backing member and attaching the flattened end ofthe handle member between the sides of the backing member.

6; A cleaning device comprising a backing and supporting member formedof a sheet of relatively stiff material such as cardboard which isfolded to provide two substantially cc-eXtensive side members joined bya fold, a cleaning member formed of a pad of superposed sheets ofcleaning material which are folded about the fold of the backing memberand which substantially cover each of the sides thereof, the free edgesof the sheets of cleaning material being folded over the free edge ofthe adjacent side member and being received between the side members,and means attaching the cleaning member to the sides of the backingmember and attaching the free edges of the cleaning member between thesides of the backing member.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a cleaning pad comprising aplurality of superposed rectangular sheets of cleaning material such asfibre paper, and an octagonal-shaped backing sheet of relatively stiffmaterial such as cardboard overlying one face of said pad and being attached thereto.

f 8. As a new article of manufacture, a cleaning pad comprising aplurality of superposed rectangular sheets of cleaning material such asfibre paper, the opposite narrow side edges of each of said sheets beingfolded inwardly toward each other to provide flaps which may be foldedoutwardly when the pad is in use to thereby protect the edges ofunderlying sheets.

9. A cleaning device comprising a backing and supporting member formedof a sheet of relatively stiff material such as cardboard which isfolded to provide two substantially co-extensive side members joined bya fold, a cleaning member formed of a pad of superposed sheets ofcleaning material which is folded about the fold of the backing memberand which substantially covers each of the sides thereof, means forattaching the cleaning member to the sides of the backing member, andmeans disposed between the side members and constantly urging the foldaway from the edges of the backing members to thereby urge the cleaningdevice to extended position.

JOSEPH D. BATES.

